Every nine years...

Slade House: A Novel - David Mitchell

Every nine years a new visitor is welcomed to Slade House. But much like the mythical Hotel California, "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

 

Slade House is a little skip through history. It's five short stories, chronicling the visits of the latest five guests to Slade House. From a concert pianist and her 13 year old son, to a police inspector, a college co-ed to her older sister, and finally a mysterious stranger (who is apparently a larger player in another book by Mitchell, "The Bone Clocks".) 

 

This was an amusingly creepy read, rather quick as it is more a novella than a full novel, but that did not detract from the book. Due to the brevity, an in-depth review is difficult. There isn't room for extraneous prose, the entire book is plot.

 

I did quite enjoy this book, and I will probably pick up more of Mitchell's works. It's written tightly, there is little to no backstory, and the same amount of character development. However, that doesn't distract from the creation of understandable and relate-able persons. From reading other reviews, I did learn that while Slade House can, and does, act as a free-standing work, it is also a companion piece to The Bone Clocks. Reading them both may give better insight to some of the incidents that occur in Slade House, and may also explain some of the terms bandied about.

 

In the interest of disclosure, I did receive a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.